Tales of Green Tea

A charming collection of essays exploring Japanese tea culture and daily life as the owner of a 300-year old tea shop in the historical city of Kyoto.

At Ippodo Tea in Kyoto, leaves unfurl in a kyusu teapot as steam rises and water is poured with care. The teahouse hums with activity, but each movement is deliberate and every cup a small ritual.

In Tales of Green Tea, Miyako Watanabe, current owner of the 300-year-old tea house, shares moments, encounters and discoveries from a life shaped by tea and tradition.

Following the journey of the leaf – from misty fields where it is grown and hand-picked to the serenity of tea ceremony – Watanabe explores tea's history alongside its place in contemporary culture. The result is a gentle meditation on how a simple cup can hold memory, season and place.

ISBN 9780349447193

192 pages, 216 x 135 mm